Evolve.

Adapt.
Overcome.
CEFI is now ready.

CONCEPTS IN THE CARE OF

AT-RISK AND SICK ADULT
CLIENTS

INTRODUCTION

KENNETH P. VELUYA
College of Nursing
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

HEALTH CARE
SITUATIONS
Study Home
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Concept of Illness

• Illness is a personal state in which the person feels unhealthy or ill.

• Illness may or may not be related to disease.
• Illness is a state in which a person’s physical, emotional, intellectual,
social, developmental or spiritual functioning is diminished or
impairment compared with previous experience
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.
Acute Illness
• Usually has a short duration and
severe.
• The signs and symptoms appear
abruptly, are intense and often
subside after a relatively short
period.
• Following an acute illness a person
may return to normal level of
wellness
VS. Chronic Illness
• Slow onset. Persists, usually longer
than 6 months and can also affect
functioning in any dimension.
• Chronically ill person have long term
disease process
• The client fluctuate between maximal
functioning and serious relapses that
may be life threatening
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Key Terms
Disease

• Disturbance of structure or of function of

the body or its constituent parts. Morbidity. Condition of being diseased.
• Lack of or inadequate adaptation of the
organism to his environment. Morbidity Rate. The proportion of
• Failure of the adaptive mechanism to
disease to health in a community
adequately counteract the stimuli or
stresses to which it is subject resulting in
disturbances in function and structure of Mortality. Condition or quality of being
any part, organ or system of the body. subject to death.
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Key Terms
Susceptibility
Virulence
• The degree of
• Study of the resistance the • Relative power or
patterns of potential host the degree of
health and has against the pathogenicity of the
disease, its pathogen. invading
occurrence and microorganism, the
• One that possesses ability to produce
distribution in the potential for
man, for the poisons that repel or
producing injury or destroy phagocytes.
Epidemiology purpose of disease.
control and (e.g.Streptococcus,
prevention of Staphylococcus)
disease.

Etiologic
Agent
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Key Terms
Risk Factors Disease
Characteristics
• Genetic and
• Is the Physiological • Remission
• Hereditary • Exacerbation
causation of the • Age • Congenital • Organic
disease. Etiologic • Environment • Metabolic • Functional
description • Lifestyle • Deficiency • Occupational
includes
• Traumatic • Familial
identification of
• Allergic • Venereal
all factors that
• Neoplastic • Epidemic
Etiology act together to
• Idiopathic • Endemic
bring a disease
• Degenerative • Pandemic
condition.
• Iatrogenic • Sporadic

Etiologic
Factors
COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.
Key Terms
Symptomatology. Study of symptoms.
Symptom. Any disorder of appearance,
sensation or function experienced by the
patient indicative of a certain phase of a
disease. Manifestation of perceptible
changes in the body which indicate the
presence of a disease or disorder.
Sign. An objective symptom or objective
evidence or physical manifestation made
apparent by special methods of
examination or use of sense.
Syndrome. A set of symptom, the sum of which constituents
a disease.
• A group of symptoms which commonly occurs together
• A group of signs and symptoms which when considered
together characterize a disease.
Pathology. The branch of medicine which deals with the
cause, nature, treatment and resultant structural and
functional changes of disease.
Diagnosis. Art or act of determining the nature of a disease,
recognition of a diseased state.
Complication. A condition that occurs during or after the
course of an illness.
Prognosis. Prediction of the course and of a disease,
medical opinion as to the outcome of a disease process.
Recovery. Implies that the person has no observable or
known after effects from his illness; there is apparent
restoration to the pre-illness state
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

CHRONIC ILLNESS

• Are often defined as medical conditions or health problems with associated

symptoms or disabilities that require long- term management (3 months or longer).
• Illnesses or diseases that have a prolonged course, that do not resolve spontaneously,
and for which complete cures are rare.
• The specific condition may be a result of illness, genetic factors, or injury; it maybe
a consequence of conditions or unhealthy behaviors that began during childhood
and young adulthood.
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Management of Chronic Conditions

• includes learning to live with symptoms or disabilities and coming to terms with
identity changes resulting from having a chronic condition.
• It also consists of carrying out the lifestyle changes and regimens designed to control
symptoms and to prevent complications.
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Causes of the Increasing Number of People with Chronic Conditions Include the
Following:
• A decrease in mortality from infectious diseases, such as smallpox, diphtheria, and other serious
conditions
• Longer life spans because of advances in technology and pharmacology, improved nutrition, safer
working conditions, and greater access (for some people) to health care
• Improved screening and diagnostic procedures, enabling early detection and treatment of diseases
• Prompt and aggressive management of acute conditions, such as myocardial infarction and acquired
immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) + related infections
• The tendency to develop chronic illnesses with advancing age
• Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, chronic stress, and sedentary lifestyle, that increase the risk for
chronic health problems such as respiratory disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and
obesity
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRONIC CONDITIONS

• Managing chronic illness involves more than managing medical problems. Associated psychological
and social problems must also be addressed

• Chronic conditions usually involve many different phases over the course of a person’s lifetime.
There can be acute periods, stable and unstable periods, flare- ups, and remissions.

• Each phase brings its own set of physical, psycho- logical, and social problems, and each requires its
own regimens and types of management.
 COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

The Challenges of Living with Chronic Conditions

Include the Need to Accomplish the Following:
• Alleviate and manage symptoms
• Psychologically adjust to and physically accommodate disabilities
• Prevent and manage crises and complications
• Carry out regimens as prescribed
• Validate individual self-worth and family functioning
• Manage threats to identity
• Normalize personal and family life as much as possible
• Live with altered time, social isolation, and loneliness
• Establish the networks of support and resources that can enhance quality of life
• Return to a satisfactory way of life after an acute debilitating episode (eg, another myocardial
infarction or stroke) or reactivation of a chronic condition
• Die with dignity and comfort
COLLEGE OF NURSING
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Questions???